Manon Fiorot picked up her biggest win so far at UFC Fight Night 226 in Paris tonight, defeating Rose Namajunas by unanimous decision.
Round One:
Both feeling out with punches to start but not landing yet. Jab for Namajunas. Now a leg kick. She goes for a kick to the body.
Calf kick for Namajunas. Right hand gets through for Fiorot nicely. Right hand for Namajunas. Fiorot swats out with punches and Namajunas throws a couple of crisper punches back at her.
Left hand for Fiorot. Namajunas drives into a takedown, but Fiorot defends that nicely. Leg kick for Namajunas. Jab for Namajunas. Commentary team suggesting Namajunas pinky finger might be dislocated.
Jab for Fiorot. Left hand for Namajunas. Uppercut from Namajunas. Leg kick for her. She lands that again. Straight left for the former champ. Fiorot swinging hard but not finding the mark. However, she then goes for a head kick and almost landed cleanly with that.
A few straight punches from Fiorot now. Namajunas tries a takedown attempt and fails. Fiorot with more hard strikes down the pipe. Fiorot looking for the jab as the round ends. Namajunas feeling at her injured finger as she goes back to her corner.
Round Two:
Namajunas punches to the body. Right hook for Fiorot. Reaching right hand from Namajunas. Two straight punches from Fiorot and Namajunas stumbles as she backs out of range. Fiorot into the clinch against the cage. Fiorot with a big knee to the body and heavy punches. Namajunas able to back away.
Head kick from Fiorot misses. Namajunas pressing forward now. Body kick for Fiorot. Leg kick for Namajunas. Kick to the side from Fiorot.
Namajunas with a hook kick and spinning head kick attempts. Body kick from Fiorot. Punch from Namajunas and Fiorot staggers off-balance to the mat for a moment. Namajunas on her looking for a takedown, but Fiorot does well to stay upright and go back to striking range.
Namajunas attempts to clinch up and there’s a clash of heads as she steps into range. It causes a nasty cut to the side of Fiorot’s head and forces a stoppage for a moment. Fiorot is ok to continue but the right side of her head is now completely soaked with blood.
Fiorot back to being aggressive as she fires off her straight punches. Nice right hook too. Body kick from Namajunas. Good left hand gets through in close from Namajunas.
Round Three:
Fiorot with a series of aggressive right hands. Leg kick for Namajunas. Namajunas attempts a takedown that’s stuffed.
Fiorot pumps out the jab. Namajunas again with a takedown attempt, but Fiorot only goes to her knees for a moment and then pops right back up.
Body kick for Namajunas. Namajunas trying to pressure, but Fiorot moves out off range and resets. left hand gets through for Namajunas in an exchange.
Low kick for Namajunas as Fiorot seeks punches. Jab from Namajunas. Another exchange in close and Namajunas got a left hand through.
Good right hook from Fiorot off a jab. Namajunas still pressuring, but Fiorot throws a nice head kick and then follows up with more strikes.
Namajunas with nice punches and head movement to avoid the counters coming back at her. Fiorot slips for a moment, but is ok. They clinch up but soon separate. Namajunas pressing forward again as the round comes to an end.
Decision:
This was a fairly close fight, but Fiorot appeared to be getting the better of the striking battle in the opening two rounds with more volume and aggression to her work, though it was Namajunas who was constantly coming forward in the final five minutes and edged the action. In the end it’s Fiorot who emerges with a big-name win to bolster her flyweight title push via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2).
